The 'Cruz Effect': Talkathon may transform Texas GOP

AUSTIN — Ted Cruz's talkathon on the U.S. Senate floor had no hope of legislative success and boiled down to largely political performance art. But in Texas, the combative style his 21-hour speech demonstrated could be transformative.

The all-night self-emulation is energizing the grass-roots conservatives that already helped Cruz rise from electoral longshot to national star, and may prove a boon for other tea party-backed candidates waiting to follow in his footsteps.

While no one is expecting an army of Cruz clones to emerge, he may be a model for a certain type of confrontational conservatism back home. And the implications will stretch far beyond its own borders since Texas is the nation's richest GOP donor state and repeatedly has been a cradle for Republican presidential candidates — perhaps even Cruz himself in 2016.

"You can feel the Cruz effect all over the state," said Konni Burton, a Fort Worth tea party Republican who is running for a Texas Senate seat.

Burton hopes to replace Democratic state Sen. Wendy Davis, who became an overnight national sensation in her own right by leading a nearly 13-hour filibuster in the Texas Legislature this summer that temporarily blocked passage of strict new abortion limits statewide.

Cruz had hoped to defund the White House-backed health care law or shutdown the government trying but knew before he started his marathon speech that he was going to fail. But Burton said, "the politics of standing pat" has mainstream Texas Republicans looking over their shoulders and could make compromise a dirty word in the Legislature.

"At town halls, at any event, his name gets mentioned and people just go crazy," Burton said of Cruz. "There are legislators there too and they're running and they hear it. They can't ignore what's going on."

Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, who is running for lieutenant governor and the chance to oversee the state Senate, countered that he doesn't expect the politics of obstructionism to reign in response to Cruz's quasi-filibuster.

"If you are pro-small government it doesn't mean you can't get done what government still needs to do," Patterson said. "Standing your ground and having principles and getting things done are not mutually exclusive."

Texas Republican strategist Matt Mackowiak said "everyone's trying to be the next Cruz, but that was a moment in time" that won't be repeated.

Cruz upset Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst — the choice of Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Republican mainstream — in last summer's U.S. Senate primary by running hard to the right and enthralling grassroots activists. But he also benefited greatly from a crowded Republican field during the first round of voting and a court battle over redistricting that pushed his runoff election with Dewhurst into the dog days of summer — when turnout was low and dominated by tea party die-hards.

A Princeton- and Harvard-trained attorney, Cruz also has a fiery stage presence that's tough to emulate. And his campaign got millions from national conservative organizations such as the Club For Growth and logistical support from FreedomWorks. Neither group has yet to endorse major candidates for next year's Texas Republican primaries.

Meanwhile, Katrina Pierson, a well-known tea party activist with strong ties to Cruz, is challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions. She said Cruz's effort will "have a ripple effect in Texas but really around the country."

Mackowiak said a key reason there hasn't yet been a second-coming of Cruz in Texas is because the differences between mainstream and tea party Republicans are not as pronounced as in other states. But he also said everyone watched — and will learn from — Cruz's crusade.

"It solidifies Cruz as the leader of the Republican Party in Texas," Mackowiak said.

It also will make Cruz's appearances at state fundraisers — and his coming possible endorsements in key Texas races — all the more coveted.

Wesley Lloyd, president of McLennan County Republican Club, spent months working to schedule Ted Cruz for an August benefit in Waco that raised nearly $32,000 for the victims of a massive fertilizer plant explosion in the nearby town of West.

"He's got the rock star thing going," said Lloyd, whose group had an easier time booking top statewide officeholders and even rising Republican star George P. Bush, who is has joined the family business of politics by running for land commissioner.

Still, Amy Spiess, grassroots coordinator for the Republican Women of Kerr County, west of San Antonio, said what happened in the Senate wasn't just about Cruz.

"Senator Cruz is a patriot for doing what he's doing," Spiess said. "More people need to realize they can be a patriot too, all over Texas and everywhere else."

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Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because if there be one he must approve of the homage of reason more than that of blindfolded fear. Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Peter Carr, August 10, 1787

I do hope, most sincerely, that our dear Sen Cruz gets the 2016 Republican nomination for president. He will lose to Hillary Clinton in a landslide, insuring sixteen straight years of Democratic control of the White House !

Get the Obama care in effect as soon as you can let the libber[commies] get their taste of it, by the time 2014 elections roll around there wont be a progressive left standing.
bfilder you ready to start trading our old dollars for the new ones at a rate of about 4 to 1 its 's
well on the way.Could be I need to dig some of that up that is in the dog pen buy a little gold or silver? What do you think bfilder I trust you thoughts on this. Give me a call we will talk about it over a beer.

I hope he gets the Republican nomination. This will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt how far out of touch with reality they really are. He was born in Canada with a Canadian birth certificate and Constitutional Law states that only citizens born in the United States can hold the office Of President of the United States. Really folks, are you so lame that you would actually back this nut ball?

Educated at Princeton and Harvard. Campaign financed by Washington DC PACs. Has never owned a business here or created a job here.

I don't understand why my fellow Republicans would want to claim ownership of this bozo. He has been employed virtually his entire life by one government entity or another. Every one of his actions while living on the government payroll is geared at getting himself publicity.

Wake me up when this guy does something that benefits our country, instead of himself. I would prefer he be brokering a deal that resolves some of Washingtons ills instead of grandstanding for the media.

Ted Cruz argues that we should return to a system that nearly bankrupted our nation, but offers no solutions to control the rising costs of health care. It is the epitome of hubris. If Republicans want to win on the Obamacare battle they have to offer some solutions and not just a return to a system that doesn't work.

Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because if there be one he must approve of the homage of reason more than that of blindfolded fear. Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Peter Carr, August 10, 1787